Let Go
by Ketsui Tasogare
Summary: His hands were on her shoulders. His chest against her back as he leaned in close so he could speak directly into her ear-his breath tickled her ear as he spoke and she could peripherally see his breath due to the cold air...he was headed down the same path as them and losing him was something that filled her with fear.
1. Chapter 1

**It's 2018. Happy New Year everyone! Here's a new Nejiten fic for you. I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Let's get into it:**

 **Disclaimer: None of the characters or Naruto itself belongs to me.**

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Chapter 1: Distance

His hands were on her shoulders. His chest against her back as he leaned in close so he could speak directly into her ear-his breath tickled her ear as he spoke and she could peripherally see his breath due to the cold air. The potential for snow was high on that morning but at the moment it was just overcast with a biting wind. Neji's voice was smooth and calm. Tenten's heart rate increased as beads of sweat glided down the side of her face.

"Keep your eyes closed" he spoke gently almost breathlessly which made Tenten feel some type of way but she did as she was told

Her eyes remained shut as she focused on his presence. She blocked out everything else-the slightly whistling wind that swept past them, the sounds the forest training grounds became background sounds. She could feel him physically touching her but more than that, she could feel his chakra, the disciplined strength she'd know him for. His right hand moved from her shoulder to her hand. He'd closed his hand around hers after placing a kunai in her hand. His hand was warm; the interaction was electric for her.

"I-I'm not so sure this is a good idea, Neji" she spoke hesitantly

"You need to stop doubting yourself" he said as he backed away "You can still feel my chakra right?" he said as he walked to the tree on the opposite side of her

"Yeah I can tell where you are, I can feel your chakra"

"But can you feel all of it? All over my body from the top of my head to my feet?"

Tenten paused for a while. Up until he asked her she'd always focused on just finding the highest concentration of chakra which was in the centre of the body. She shut her eyes even harder and focused on him-her senses working harder to find the rest of his chakra until she could see a silhouette in her mind. She could feel all of him all the way to his fingertips.

She could sense all of his chakra.

"I-I think I'm doing it, I can sense all of you" she said with pride as her grip on the kunai tightened

Neji was impressed to say the least. They'd only started this training to improve her sensory skills a few hours earlier. The fact that she was able to make such progress so fast came as a bit of a surprise to him-although when he considered it, it made sense. Tenten was a weapons expert. Truly mastering the ninja tools was a difficult task only accomplished by those with incredible precision, accuracy and discipline-combine that with the skill of the summoning jutsu and you got Tenten. She was definitely a formidable opponent.

Pride welled up inside him when he saw her smile.

"Great work, now focus on my chakra and aim just above it to hit the target"

"You're awfully trusting considering this is my first time doing this"

"Have you ever given me any reason to doubt your abilities?"

"With my eyes open, no but this…

"You'll be fine"

"It's not me I'm worried about" she finished before concentrating again. She took in a breath and released it-imagining the white puff of smoke leaving her lips and disappearing in the cold wind before throwing the kunai and hoping for the best. She was concerned when she hadn't heard anything.

"Neji are you alright?" she asked before opening her eyes. She was surprised by the results.

"And that is why I never doubt you" he took a step away from the tree to admire her perfect shot

The kunai had hit its mark perfectly. The target was set just above his head and landed there. Tenten was beaming-her sensory skills had come a long but she'd never been this accurate when doing target practise with her eyes closed and it was her first time doing it with a partner.

' _I'm going to miss this'_ the words involuntarily came into her min

They repeated the exercise, each time increasing the risk level for Neji and the number of kunai for Tenten to throw in his direction. Eventually he stood surrounded by targets incredibly close to his body and he had his eyes closed as well. The most interesting of all was having him run to each target and Tenten's job was to hit each target a split second before he passed it. The results weren't surprising; she'd done perfectly as he knew she would.

It was late afternoon when they decided to call it a day. The two teens rested on a large tree stump.

"That was a great training session although there were a few times where I thought I'd miss but, I guess the right incentive made sure I didn't. I wouldn't want to be responsible for grazing that flawless Hyuuga skin" she smirked at him and he playfully raised a brow at her sassy comment.

"As if you could ever miss" he stood up and she followed suit. The two of them headed back to the village at a leisurely pace "Believe it or not you're actually even more dangerous when you can't see" he looked up to the grey sky

"What do you mean?" she asked as they walked through the front gates together

Xxx

The two of them had had dinner together and Neji was walking Tenten back home. A routine the two of them had started ever since he'd become a Jonin and Lee and Gai started doing their missions together. The Konohan streets were quieter than usual that evening. Few villagers were out and about but Tenten still enjoyed walking with Neji nonetheless. The sky was covered in stars-the clouds from earlier had completely dissipated-as she took them in with her larger chocolate brown eyes as she and Neji walked in a comfortable silence. She stole a glance at him-he looked like he had something on his mind. A feeling she wasn't unfamiliar with-she too had something weighing down on her but she didn't know how to approach the topic. He spoke up when they reached her apartment.

"You were awfully quiet tonight, is something wrong?" he looked at her for longer than was necessary and she felt uneasy as though he could see into her mind.

He was always good at reading her.

"Nope!" she answered a little too quickly with a smile he knew was fake "I'm fine, there's nothing really" she said hoping he'd take the hint that she didn't want to speak about it and forget it. Apparently he got the message and left it at that but she knew this conversation was far from over.

"Goodnight Neji" she said softly before turning away from him. She went inside after he greeted her. She leaned her forehead against the closed door and let out a heavy sigh.

"Get it together Tenten" she thought back to how close they were that afternoon. He was basically pressed up against her and she'd enjoyed that feeling but things were going to change between them very soon and that was something she feared.

They weren't naive Genin anymore. Lee and Tenten were Chunin and Neji a Jonin. The stronger they got the higher up the ranking ladder they'd climb; just another reminder that they weren't going to be teammates forever. Tenten knew this and understood it. Lee had made it easy on himself and decided to fully commit to his personal training with Guy sensei which made the transition from team guy to a solo shinobi a lot easier. This wasn't the case for Tenten-ever since their Genin days it had always been Lee and Guy sensei with their endless reserves of energy and talks of youth. Then there was the more normal part of the team which was her and Neji-that was the dynamic she'd gotten used to. It had always been that way and it was how she always wanted it to be but she could tell that Neji was only going to keep climbing higher up the shinobi ladder.

She would accept things a lot easier if there hadn't been all the unacknowledged moments between then that left them wondering what they meant to each other. They were just teammates at first but then as they grew older something had developed between them. There were moments that were more platonic than others; be it a hug that lasted longer than usual, the looks they gave one another when they thought the other wasn't looking, the suggestive comments they'd say to each other from time to time or more recently Tenten feeling flustered whenever Neji got too close to her or touched her. She didn't want to lose Neji without finding out what they were to each other and yet she also didn't want to bring it up because she was afraid of what his answer would be and that she was just seeing what she wanted to see.

Tenten took a long hot bath soaking in her thoughts. The steam quickly filled the bathroom leaving her in a world of mist and tile.

Xxx

Neji had just changed into his sleepwear after taking a hot bath himself to rid his body of the icy chill from being out all day training with Tenten. He sat at his desk in his room and looked out the window-looking in the direction of her apartment. He was thinking about her. He wondered what was going through her mind although, why she looked so strained by her thoughts. There was clearly something bothering her but she'd refused to tell him anything after each attempt he'd made. A familiar voice outside his room brought him back to reality.

"You can come in" he said turning to face his cousin

"You seemed a little distracted at dinner Neji, is something wrong?" she asked genuinely concerned

"I'm not sure…" Hinata waited for him to continue his explanation "Tenten's been quite guarded lately especially around me but she won't say what's bothering her"

"I see…" she took in his words then glanced at the white envelope on his desk "Have you told her yet" her eyes never left his desk-he understood her question.

"No not yet. I'm not sure how to bring it up yet"

"Don't you think that maybe the reason she's been so distanced is because of this? She may not know about the letter exactly but she probably has her own concerns about losing you eventually. You've been a Jonin for five years now it's only natural that you progress in you shinobi career." But she'd purposely left a part out of her explanation. The part that was clear to most-that she had feelings for him. And he had feelings for her but he was unaware of it.

Neji stopped to consider Hinata's words. Could she be right? Could he really be the reason that Tenten was going through all this? He thought back to earlier in the day when he'd told her to focus on his chakra. He remembered wondering why she was so tense around him at that moment-he had no idea it was because him. Thinking back Neji actually noticed how often moments like that had happened between them. They were never conscious of what they were doing or how close they were until after the event had happened.

Tenten was definitely more important to him than just a friend but they weren't exactly dating-no matter what their friends said.

"She definitely has the intuition for it. I suppose I shouldn't delay in filling her in" he came to his conclusion

"Delaying it would only make things worse. You should tell her and soon" she said as she stood up and left his room after saying goodnight

Neji turned out the lights and rested his head against the pillow.

' _All this fuss over me…'_ his last words before closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to take over

One a.m…

Tenten left her apartment warmly dressed and in no way tired enough to sleep so she headed to the training grounds to do some target practise to tire herself out. She reached her destination and took out her scroll to summon her weapons. She'd set up the targets and stood in a starting position. She closed her eyes and thought back to the previous day with Neji. Although this time was different because there was no chakra for her to sense but only the image of the targets positions burned into her mind. With these thoughts she threw her five kunai. When she opened her to see her work only one kunai was slightly off from the bullseye. She let out a sigh before going to retrieve them and that's when she felt a familiar chakra behind her.

"You know there is such a thing as over-training" he said walking closer

"Couldn't sleep so I figured I might as well train" she turned to face him "You knew I was here?"

"I didn't yet here I am. I couldn't sleep either so I thought I'd take a walk…

"And with our luck we ended in the same place" she smiled at the irony

"This seems to happen to us quite often"

"Yet we've never talked about it-any of it" she took a seat on one of the tree stumps and he sat next to her

There was a heavy silence between them; neither of them had said a word but there was so much that they had to say to each other. A snowflake landed in her hand. The two of them looked up to see the cloud covered sky and the crystal snowflakes slowly falling from above.

"Looks like your training session has been cut short"

"Yeah we should head back" she stood up and was about to start walking when Neji held on to her hand. She looked at him in confusion but he hadn't said anything yet.

"It's been a while since we were this relaxed around each other"

"That's because we're just talking, no training, just us" she looked at him with a small smile "We definitely need to talk"

"I agree" they started walking back

"But not now in the middle of the snowy early morning."

"But we're definitely talking today" they'd stopped when they reached the point of going their separate ways only just realising they'd walked the entire way hand in hand. Tenten looked at their joined hands then up at Neji. Their gazes were soft until they leaned in. Their faces were close their lips closer but they'd both stopped at the same time still unsure of where they stood with each other. Tenten was blushing but hid her face from him. She turned away and squeezed his hand before letting go and heading off.

Neji remained on the spot and watched her leave. He'd acknowledged how fast his heart was beating at that moment-how much he'd enjoyed having her hand in his and more importantly how much he wanted to kiss her. He put his hands in his pockets and headed home as the snowfall was intensifying. She remained on his mind the entire time and he finally came to a conclusion-

Tenten wasn't just his friend-

Not anymore.

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 **And thats chapter one done, I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you thought or a fav or a follow (or all three XD). And as for Scars (for those of you keeping up with it) do not worry I have not abandoned it. I'm still busy with the next chapter, I'm not stopping that story until it's finished. Well that's it from me-**

 **Until the next chapter-**

 **Ketsui Tasogare :-)**


	2. Chapter 2

**And here's chapter 2 of Let Go. Things get a little spicy in this chapter but let me not spoil it :D ...**

 **Enjoy chapter 2**

 **Disclaimer: None of the characters or the show Naruto belong to me**

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Chapter 2: Delay

Funny how life worked. The two of them agreed that they would finally sit down and talk but life had other plans. Just as they'd met up, Neji and Tenten were summoned to Lady Tsunade's office.

"Neji, Tenten you two are to head to the land of woods. It's a smaller nation on the border with the land of fire. Six months ago the village leader's palace was attacked when a coup broke out in the village. The coup took down the building with a powerful fire-style jutsu. Three people were killed but the village leader himself was rushed out in time. Some of our shinobi in collaboration with the local shinobi rebuilt the palace and guarded the place while they were getting back on their feet after what had happened"

The two shinobi took in every word.

"To thank the Hidden leaf for our efforts, the village leader has presented us with his late wife's necklace. It's a sacred treasure of his and worth millions. He's giving it to us to solidify the alliance between our two villages and I need you two to bring it here"

"But why not have one of their own shinobi bring it to a half way point and we collect it from there?" Tenten asked

"The group of shinobi that started the coup are still at large and they're cant spare a single shinobi to do the job. Protecting the village is their top priority. And besides they might have found out about the necklace being given to our village and will probably attack whoever's guarding it. Frankly I'd feel more confident if our own were to retrieve the necklace. Tomorrow the palace is hosting a celebration. You two are to attend it-a party is the perfect place to try to get the necklace. Find out what you can about the coup and bring home that necklace"

"Understood" they said in unison before leaving her office

The two shinobi went to their homes to pack the necessary items needed for the mission. Tenten had just finished checking her scrolls and packing essentials all that was left was the dress she was to wear to the celebration. There was a particular dress that she had in mind and she wondered what Neji's reaction would be when he saw her in it. Just that thought convinced her to take it, with a smile on her face she packed it in her bag.

The two of them met at the main gate an hour later. They took one last look at the village before they put up their hoods of their winter cloaks and headed out.

Xxx

They'd left the Leaf mid-morning and arrived at the border a day and a half later. The two shinobi walked through the front gates of the much smaller village. They were greeted by one of the gate guards and escorted to the palace. Tenten took in as much of the village as she could. She was surprised more of the village hadn't been destroyed by the fire style used to attack the palace as most of the buildings were made of wood. Once inside; Neji and Tenten were taken to the village leader.

"Welcome to our village Leaf shinobi. I trust your Hokage has explained the situation to you" the much older man asked the two. He sat at the end of the room wearing very expensive looking clothes and jewels on his right hand. His was hair short and brown with some grey streaks from age appearing on the side of his hair.

"Yes she has. I'm Neji Hyuuga and this is my teammate, Tenten. We were informed about the coup and the new alliance between our two villages and most importantly the necklace and the fact that the perpetrators are still at large."

"Yes unfortunately with the rebuilding of the palace and keeping the villagers safe, we simply could not spare the man power to pursue the culprits and I'm afraid they might try something at tonight's celebration" he said with genuine concern

"Actually my lord that's exactly what we're expecting to happen" Tenten spoke up

"What do you mean?"

"There's a very good chance that they know about the alliance and about the necklace itself. Attacking the royal palace couldn't have been executed so perfectly if they hadn't studied everything about the place and the people who work here. It's highly likely that they had inside help and are planning to take the necklace when the festivities take place" Tenten explained

"That's why we propose that the necklace be removed from its guarded location and be worn at the celebration." Neji continued

"But it would stand out. If there is an insider supporting the coup they'd jump at the opportunity"

"Exactly, instead of wasting time trying to find them we make them reveal themselves to us and take them down before anyone else gets hurt"

"I assume that you will be the one to wear the necklace?" he looked at Tenten

"Yes I'll be wearing it"

"Using yourself as bait, it's risky but I'm confident with the skills that the hidden leaf possesses" he smiled at the them putting them both at ease that he accepted their plan with confidence "Now please relax a while before the celebration begins later this evening" he dismissed them

The two of them left his quarters and were escorted to their room.

"Looks like were sleeping together" she commented which earned her a smirk for her play on words referring to the fact that they were sharing a bedroom. Once they were given their privacy the two of them discussed the plan of action for the evening.

The sun started to go down and the hurried footsteps of servants meant that it was almost time for the celebration to begin. While Neji was changing in the bathroom there was a knock at the door.

"Lady Tenten here is the necklace you requested to wear this evening" one of the maidens handed her the white box

"Thank you, I'll keep it safe" Tenten replied. The younger woman bowed before leaving.

"The necklace arrived?" Neji asked walking into the room

"Yeah it was just delivered" Tenten answered without noticing that Neji had changed into his formal wear.

Then she did notice.

He looked absolutely dapper in a three piece navy suit. The pants and blazer were navy while the waistcoat underneath was black with a matching black skinny tie. The suit was bespoke to fit him perfectly and Tenten noticed how it emphasised his now more muscular upper body. She found herself blushing.

"Wow, absolutely dapper. I won't be the only one getting noticed tonight" she complimented

"There's no way that I could ever outshine you, Tenten" his compliment made her look away shyly with a smile. It was sweet and genuine but it also changed the atmosphere of the room. His gaze found hers-a silent communication had happened, another one of their moments. Tenten was the first to look away as she took her dress to the bathroom to get changed. Once safely behind the closed door she let out a sigh.

' _We were supposed to talk about all these moments but leave it to a mission make more chemistry between us'_ she said in her head while getting into her dress

Once dressed she did her make-up. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror satisfied with her work. Afterwards she did her hair different from the usual-it wasn't everyday that you got to attend a celebration in another village and wear almost priceless jewellery. Speaking of which, once Tenten was satisfied with her hair and make-up, she put on the finishing touch-the necklace.

It went well with the outfit almost as though paired together on purpose.

Tenten's heartrate increased, she was excited to show Neji her final look. They'd never seen each other in formal clothing to this level before and she was already blown away by how handsome he looked. She could only wonder what he'd say to her when he saw her. Anticipation getting the best of her she walked out of the bathroom and cleared her throat to get his attention. He was going through one of the books from the bookshelf near the window but when he saw her the book fell from his hands. He was stunned by her, and not without good reason.

Tenten emerged with her hair in neat bun. Her eyes shimmered with the smoky eye shadow. Her lips were a deep red and as for her dress: it was a deep burgundy backless, long sleeve, V-neckline, A line dress. The front of the dress was open showing her long legs while the back of the dress was long and a small train pooled behind her. Her shoes were black stilettoes. And as for the necklace that she had to protect, it was a black lace choker with a diamond in the shape of a teardrop in the centre.

"I'm speechless" was all he could say but she was more than happy with that response

The way the dress was so fitted on top then just gracefully flowed from the skirt-she looked effortlessly glamourous and elegant. He'd always found Tenten beautiful but tonight all dressed up he saw her differently. She had the power of a Siren-the mythological creatures that'd lure men astray with their beauty and harmonious voices. Tenten looked amazing and she knew it although not in an arrogant way but confidently so. The way her lips had a slight pout to them at that moment and just the way she was posed, her hand resting on her hip-made his chest tighten and something inside him stirred. A word he hadn't used to describe her before came to mind-she was beautiful no doubt about that but now she was all that and to him-

She was sexy.

He had to take a breath before walking over to her.

"So this is the necklace we need to bring back" he said inspecting it without realising he'd leaned in and put his hand under the diamond to get a better look at it. Only when she placed her hand over his did he snap back to reality.

"Sorry" he took a step back, mentally berating himself for being so bold

"It's fine, ready to go?" she asked changing the subject

The well-dressed pair headed out and descended the stairs to the courtyard where many of the guests were already enjoying themselves. Neji and Tenten decided to join the couples on the dancefloor to get a better view of everyone without behaving too conspicuously.

"If the group is here then they'll try to make contact with me immediately" she said

A slow song started the two of them got closer. She took his hand and placed the other on his shoulder. They glided across the dancefloor with grace and expertise. Both knew what they were doing. For a moment their mission was forgotten. They were two friends-maybe something more-trying to figure out what they were to each other but, despite all the uncertainties they were happy to be together at that moment. Their feelings for each other intensified in their dance. They were a spectacle to watch, a few of the older couples had even stopped to watch the young pair take to the floor so effortlessly. The way Tenten's dress would flow like silk each time Neji twirled her. It was the way they looked at each other. It could convince anyone of their strong chemistry. Electricity passed between them as the song came to an end, their desires became more known to the other. The warmth of his hand against her bare back; the way she held onto his jacket and the strong grip he held her thigh as he dipped her, wrapping her leg around his waist.

He brought her up slowly. They were still holding on to each other, their chests pressed together and their faces incredibly close. They were slightly out of breath but only focused on each other.

' _How do you see me?'_

A question on both their minds. There was nothing Neji wanted more than to bring their lips together but they had a job to and something caught his eye. He held Tenten even closer as though hugging her. Her head was against his chest and his mouth was close enough to her ear that he could speak without being overheard.

"There's a man at the bar who's been watching us since we arrived" he whispered to her as they swayed from side to side but Neji turned slightly so she could get a look as well.

"I see him" she whispered back

"Do you think?"

"Only one way to find out"

"Be careful" he looked into her eyes

"Always" she smiled before surprising him with a kiss on the cheek "To be continued" she smirked before turning and heading to the bar

Tenten took the corner seat and ordered a drink. The bartender left after serving her.

"My my, that was quite a dance" the man Neji had seen spying on them took a seat next to her, a drink in his hand

"That wasn't even my best" she turned to face him, a playful smile on her face

"I'm sure you're hiding all kinds of skills under that dress" his hand reached out to rest on her thigh however before he'd even done it something cold and sharp whizzed past his face and left a small cut on his cheek. Tenten picked up her drink and took a sip.

His eyes widened in shock, he hadn't even seen her move but he was dead certain a shuriken was expertly thrown to slightly graze him.

"You shouldn't touch what isn't yours" she said calmly but he could feel the threat from his seat

She was dangerous and he knew not to underestimate her. He stood up and walked around her. His chest against her back, she felt something pressed against her side. She looked down to see a kunai.

"You misunderstood my compliment earlier sweetheart. What I meant to say was, you hand over that necklace and I won't have to hurt you"

"Pointing a knife at a woman, not very polite are you?" she set her glass down after finishing her drink

"Don't even try it. I know you and your little boyfriend are hidden leaf shinobi. I won't ask again, give me the necklace or hurting you will become a reality"

"What makes you think you can? It was smart of you to back down earlier; you didn't even see my shuriken or see me move at all. Are you sure you can handle me when I'm serious?"

"I'll take my chances, were in a room full of potential hostages, you'll do whatever I say"

"You might want to look again" she said confidently

He was confused by her words but received his answer when he looked up. The room was empty, all the guests had been cleared from under his nose. And a closer look showed that his men were knocked out as well. Tenten smiled triumphantly.

While she was keeping him busy, Tenten was also simultaneously signalling Neji to remove the guests and take out the guards because she'd confirmed their target and a fight would probably ensue. Panic took over the leader's face.

"Now it's just the three of us" Tenten stood up

" _Three_ of us?" he looked confused since he and Tenten were the only ones in the room

"Of course" Neji appeared from behind one of the pillars and walked towards them "I believe you referred to me as her 'little boyfriend'" he replied smugly and put his arm around Tenten's shoulder

"You fools, you think the people inside this room were the only backup I had?" he weaved earth style signs and punched the ground creating a powerful shockwave and within seconds more shinobi came flooding in

The two leaf shinobi stood back to back in a fighting stance.

"No but we knew we could get you to bring them all out of hiding instead of us wasting our time trying to find them" Neji said smugly

"Let the games begin" Tenten said rolling up the sleeves of her dress revealing multiple summoning marks

"You wrapped your scrolls around your lower arms?"

"This dress didn't leave me a lot of options" she summoned multiple shuriken from the scroll around her arm

The battle began.

Ten enemy shinobi threw shuriken at the duo but none of them made it to their targets thanks to Neji's rotation. After that a close combat battle began. Tenten continued battling the leader while Neji dealt with the subordinates. She summoned two sai from her scrolls and went straight for him. He charged with two katana. Steel clashed with steel as the two shinobi went head to head. He swiped past her face but she ducked and managed to kick him in the stomach. He recovered fast and went in for a second attack. His movements were more aggressive and forceful, he was losing his patience. Tenten moved in to strike but he caught her arm and twisted it behind her back, she tried to hit him with her other arm but avoided it and caught it too.

"I'll be taking that necklace now" he readied his katana to cut it off

"Not a chance" she head-butted him making him release her immediately

Once free from his grip she round house kicked, he fell to the ground. Tenten was breathless but she had enough chakra to keep going. She went over to Neji.

"Tenten we need to take this fight elsewhere, remember this place was rebuilt"

"I agree, we need to take this outside" they both headed to the entrance and were immediately pursued. Neji and Tenten stopped at the entrance, the pursuers stopped as well.

"If you this necklace then come and get it!" Tenten yelled before she and Neji threw smoke bombs to the ground and escaped

Xxx

The battle continued on and the weather intensified- snowfall covered the forest area and it was only going to get worse. Tenten's chakra was at an all-time low and Neji wasn't doing any better. She knew he was probably at his limit as well. He was fighting the leader on a frozen lake. Not the best place for combat. The ice had started to crack, one wrong move could send anyone into the freezing water below-the leader took notice of this and smirked. He knew Neji wouldn't be able to avoid this attack since he was exhausted. He was breathing heavily and resting on one knee. Tenten was standing in front of him to cover him but the ice beneath her feet was quickly cracking.

"Men, all of you throw your kunai now!" he ordered and the shinobi followed his command

"I don't have enough chakra to do the rotation, if Tenten so much as takes a step to block the attack-

"I'll plunge right into the sub-zero water but I can't let them hit Neji. I've got no choice" she looked back at him. They were both injured, tired and out of chakra but Neji had it worse.

Everything moved in slow motion after that, Tenten could see all the kunai coming for her. She stood ready to block as many as she could before the ice could give way. But just as the kunai were about to hit her; she felt a strong push from behind her at the last second. Neji leapt forward and moved her out of the way-away from the cracking ice. He did a final rotation to protect her before the ice cracked completely and Neji disappeared below the ice.

"Neji!" Tenten screamed

* * *

 **Cliffhanger ending! What happens to Neji in the next chapter? Is he okay? maybe he isn't okay-well you'll just have to wait and see. You're more than welcome to leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter, I think that's it for now-**

 **Until the next chapter-**

 **Ketsui Tasogare :-)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Details

Tenten was frozen on the spot and not just because of the snow storm that had started. She made a beeline for where he'd fallen in not caring in the slightest that she could fall in as well; but she was stopped in her tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?" the leader asked smugly

"Get out of my way!" she tried to kick him but he caught her leg

"Face it, you don't have the strength to fight me right now plus I'm sure there's something else you'd rather be doing" he turned to look at the cracked ice "Give me the necklace and we'll gladly leave you to rescue him"

She looked at him with contempt. They both knew she had no choice, if Neji stayed down there any longer he could die. Tenten sighed and removed the necklace and handed it to him.

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" he turned on his heel and walked towards his subordinates "We got what we came for, we're leaving" he disappeared first, his men shortly after.

The quiet that followed apart from the howling wind made Tenten's heart beat even faster. She carefully made her way over to where Neji had fallen in, completely disregarding her own freezing body as she was still in her dress. But since the fighting had come to a stop she could feel the cold. Tears welled up in her eyes when she arrived-he wasn't there. The lake was massive, he could've been trapped anywhere under the ice.

An idea came to mind.

She closed her eyes and focused her mind. If she couldn't find him with her eyes, she'd use her chakra. Her training to sense his chakra would be a bit more difficult this time round because he had so little after their fight but she didn't give up.

After a few moments of concentration she'd sensed him. It was feint but it was something. She quickly went over to where he was and readied her scroll. She opened it and released a fireball to melt away the ice. Her heart sang with relief even though they weren't out of the woods just yet. She pulled him out and supported him as she walked to the shoreline. They both needed to get out of the bitter snow storm or they'd both freeze to death.

Xxx

A combination of things stirred him back to consciousness. The howling of the wind outside was one. The sound of crackling wood burning in a fire and the comfortable warmth that enveloped his body were the others. The last thing Neji remembered was getting Tenten out of the way before the ice had given way beneath his feet. The rest was a blank. He didn't even have the slightest idea of where he was or how he'd even gotten there. He assumed Tenten was the answer.

He tried to sit up but was somewhat restricted. There was a weight on top of him that kept him from moving freely. The young Hyuuga opened his eyes and looked down at his chest to see a mess of brown hair. Tenten raised her head so her eyes met Neji's. They were both silent.

"You're finally awake" she said as relief washed over her

"Where are we? And why are we…" he left the rest of the question hanging

"We're at a small inn . It's halfway from home. We actually passed it on our way to the land of Woods. And as for why we're like this…" she faded off

They were on a chaise in front of the fire with him on his back and she on top of him. There was a blanket over the both of them and only when Tenten sat up slightly and the blanket slowly slid off her shoulders did he see just how intimate their position was. His arms were around her, hers resting on his chest. The both of them were shirtless and Tenten straddled his waist in only a bra and shorts.

"You were wet and freezing so I brought us here to get away from the snow storm. As soon as we got here you were shivering uncontrollably. Getting into dry clothes and putting you next to the fire wasn't working fast enough so I thought of the next best thing. Sharing body heat was the fastest way to get your temperature up and it worked so…I actually could've gotten off a while ago" she looked away from him hiding her embarrassment

He put his hand under her chin and guided her gaze back to his.

"I'm glad you didn't" he said confidently

There was silence between them. His words made her heart race. His sentence was a short one but it said a lot. It basically summed what neither of them could directly say to each other. They both had a sure look in their eyes as they got more comfortable. Her arms looped around his neck and his rested on her thighs. They both leaned in, their eyes flittered shut. Tenten's lips hovered just above his.

"I wish we'd said something sooner" her lips brushed over his as she spoke

"I think we're way past talking" he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers

Tenten immediately relaxed into him and kissed back. Her mind went completely blank, forgetting that they'd just come out of a perilous situation or that they were still on a mission. The only thing on either of their minds was the sensation of their lips in contact. Their kiss was passionate because it was their first and as if it was their last. Her lips were soft against his but he could taste the desire on her them-he knew it because it's how he felt as well.

Ever since she'd walked out of the bathroom in that _damn_ tempting dress earlier that night he'd wanted to taste her lips and to have her close to him. Their sensual dance had only intensified his feelings. The way her arms moved from around his neck and to his chest made him hold her tighter. She let out a moan as he slowly slid his hands up her thighs and around her waist. It was the skin-on-skin contact that ignited something in them both. Thighs on thighs, arms, legs, hands and chests together generated a lot of heat _and_ desire between the two shinobi. So much of their bodies were exposed and in contact from Tenten's plan to raise Neji's body temperature with her own. The sound of her moan only urged him on as he broke away from the kiss and pressed his lips to her pulse point on her neck to which she responded by throwing her head back to grant him better access.

He planted slow soft kisses across her skin. She curled her fingers in his hair and bit her lower lip to suppress an agonisingly euphoric moan as she suddenly remembered that they were at an inn and did indeed have neighbours. She did however let out a strained sigh and positioned her lips by his ear to be sure he heard it. He smirked against her skin when he felt the vibrations from her neck. He brought his lips back to hers to which she responded with much fervour for a final long kiss before they separated.

"I'm glad we finally cleared the air" Neji started slowly catching his breath as was Tenten. She chuckled at his words

"Me too" she smiled at him and got comfortable in his arms "I think now's as good a time as any to talk"

"Are you sure talking is what you really want to do?" he asked as he kissed her cheek and slightly squeezed

"Tempting as that sounds, we're still on a mission" she pecked him on the lips before getting up to fetch a gown

"Just making sure you're still focused"

"Oh sure because I'm the one that needs to be checked. If I hadn't brought up the mission you'd have wanted a second round"

"And you wouldn't?" he grabbed the map he'd kept and sat in front of the fire. He looked at her slyly

"Anyways…" she sat next to him and opened the map "The land of woods ends here, and the inn we're in now is next to this river. We should be able to see the forest bordering the land of fire by noon if we leave here at dawn"

"What happened while I was out?"

Tenten sighed and looked away from him "The leader gave me an ultimatum. I either had to give him the necklace and they'd back off so I could get you or I keep the necklace and leave you and fight them off but I was outnumbered and out of chakra. I didn't see the point in both of dying for nothing. I couldn't…wouldn't leave you"

"I see, so I guess the mission was unsuccessful"

"I never said that" she pulled the black choker with the diamond teardrop jewel in the centre from her pocket

"I thought you said…"

"I gave him _a_ necklace, just not the one he wanted"

"When did you use substitution?"

"During our escape from the palace. I wore the real necklace to the party so everyone could see it and when we lured them out I substituted it before we got outside. I was wearing the fake throughout the battle. There's just one problem-"

"The substitution won't last until we're back home; it'll undo long before it gets to the client; alerting him to his mistake. A mistake he will intend to fix. We need to cross the border before that happens."

"Well we definitely can't leave now, the storm's still raging. We'll leave as soon as it subsides"

"Might as well get packed and some rest before we take off. We can take it in shifts, we need to leave the minute it's safe enough to travel. I'll take the first shift" he stood up and went to the bathroom to change clothes

"Are you sure you're fully recovered enough?"

"Trust me Tenten, you got me at top strength"

"Didn't know that counted as healing" she raised a brow with a mischievous look

"If you're really that concerned about me we can always do it again"

"You're such a-

He interrupted her with a passionate kiss. It was deep and meaningful. They slowly pulled apart.

"Don't get used to silencing me like that" she poked him in the chest and he gave a cheeky smile "Goodnight Neji" she smiled at him before leaving his arms and getting in the blankets

Xxx

"The storm's died out. Now's the perfect time to head out" he said securing his backpack

"And we better keep our eyes open. Getting home won't be easy, they're probably desperate to get this necklace back"

The two shinobi took off immediately. The air was biting and freezing, the clouds from the previous night had vanished as if they were never there in the first place. Jumping from tree to tree was more dangerous with snow covering majority of the branches. The surrounding forest was deafeningly silent, not a single bird or insect flying around. Neji was ahead of her, Tenten was in her head, distracted. Last night shouldn't have happened, she told herself. It'll just make things more difficult. She was shocked back to reality when she hit the ground.

"What the-" she looked around trying to find the reason she'd tripped

A closer look at the area above the tree she was just in showed a wire gleaming in the sunlight.

"Tenten, are you alright?" he kneeled next to her to take a look at her twisted ankle

"Yeah I'm fine" she sat up and winced when she moved her foot

"We should stop here and rest"

"No I can keep going"

He narrowed his eyes waiting for her to continue

"If they had the time to set that trap and I just triggered it then they already know that we're here and probably headed this way. We should get some distance, get closer to home before we fight again"

"Alright then, but you're not traveling on that foot"

"I don't need you worrying about me" she snapped then looked away from him

Her words stung but he hid it well.

"You'll slow us down. If they get you then they get the necklace. I'm thinking about the mission"

She sighed and surrendered, he was right. They'd be traveling at half the speed if she tried carrying on with her injury. She wrapped it in a bandage and with his help, got on his back and held on as he took off.

The wind always whipped at their faces when they travelled at top speed but something felt different this time. Feeling the wind on her face as she was relying on Neji made her feel safe. For a moment she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feeling.

What am I doing? I shouldn't have yelled at him like that.

She slightly tightened her grip on his shoulder.

"What's the matter?" he asked

"I-look out!" three kunai whizzed past them; one of which grazed Tenten's cheek

Neji landed on the ground. They were surrounded by the enemy, the leader directly in front of them.

"I believe you have something we need. Sorry about your girlfriend. Believe it or not it isn't personal. Now hand over the necklace or we kill you"

Tenten glared at him but that only seemed to widen his smirk. She looked past him in the direction they were headed. The forest surrounding the Leaf village was so close, close enough in fact that the border guards would be able to see them if an all-out battle broke out.

"Neji put me down"

"Tenten-

"You can't fight your way through them all and carry me, I'll be fine" she reached into her pocket and pulled out two black spheres. Neji smirked and got into position.

"You really think you can escape us with smoke bombs?"

"Who said anything about escaping?" she threw them to the ground and the area exploded into purple smoke

Neji activated his kekegenkai and began blasting the enemy ninja out the trees using his air palm. They dropped like flies on the forest floor. Tenten couldn't see a thing but could hear them coming. She used her training with Neji to her advantage-she closed her eyes and focused on everyone's chakra. She could feel Neji's not too far behind her-he'd already taken out quite a few but more were in coming. She took out a roll of wire and threw it at one of the enemy's headed towards her. Without even seeing but focusing on his chakra she'd tied him up and reeled him in then threw him at the next one coming for her. She tied up two more and summoned lightning from her scroll and knocked them out.

Two more came through the smoke and ran towards her. She readied her scroll and launched a fireball but an enemy from behind almost kicked her in the back but she evaded and the fireball shot to the sky. Neji took care of the last three with his air palm.

The leader was the last one remaining. He looked enraged and slightly unhinged. All his subordinates were taken down while the two of them were basically unscathed. He started weaving signs and Neji and Tenten stood ready for whatever move he'd use but the next moment he was hit from behind with a water style jutsu.

The two shinobi relaxed since their plan had worked. From behind one of the trees Izumo and Kotetsu appeared with other Chunin to arrest the leader and his subordinates

"We saw your signal with the fireball clearly, well done"

Xxx

Three days later, Tenten was sitting on her bed reading, her foot resting on a pillow. Sakura ordered her to stay off her foot for the next few days. She heard a knock on her sliding door on the balcony. She smiled when she saw who it was and waved them in.

"It looks like you aren't going anywhere for a while" he took the chair from her desk and sat next the bed

"Doctor's orders" they both laughed lightly

"We need to talk" Neji turned serious

They were both silent at first. He meant what he'd said about wanting to talk but he suddenly couldn't find the right words to start.

"What did you mean?" Tenten started "When you said I'm even more dangerous when I can't see, what did you mean?"

"When your eyes are closed and all you have to go on is your ability to see an enemy's chakra, it makes you more perceptive, more precise. You know what's at stake if you miss, so you don't. That's what makes you so incredible" he took her hand in his

"Now let me ask you the same question. What did you mean when you said you didn't need me worrying about you?"

"I know about the letter Neji" his eyes widened "I was talking to Sakura a while back and it kind of just slipped out of her. You're going to be an ANBU and honestly I couldn't be prouder…

"But…" he knew there was more to her words

"But I also didn't want to lose you before finding out what we mean to each other. That's why I wanted us to talk; but then the mission-

"We can talk now, we can still talk about it"

"I don't think there's anything left to say. After you woke up and we kissed like that it's clear that we have feelings for each other"

"And you don't think we can make this work, is that it?"

"When we were on Team Gai, I was always watching your back, that's how our formation was created. Things are different now, now you're so far ahead that I can't see you anymore. You'll have your missions and I'll have mine. All of yours will be S-rank, anything could happen"

"There were never any guarantees that we'd come back from any of our missions. No matter our rank as shinobi or the rank of the mission, any of them could've been our last. What's the difference if I'm an ANBU going on an S-rank mission versus the mission we just completed?"

"The difference is this time I won't be there with you. When I snapped at you on our way home, that was me deciding to distance myself from you, to make the transition easier. I didn't…I don't want you focusing on me, I want you to be the amazing shinobi I know you are"

"If I'd told you about the letter sooner, would it have changed anything?"

She paused a while before answering.

"I don't know"

He took a seat next to her on the bed and held her in his arms, she immediately wrapped her arms around him.

"You're meant to be an ANBU; your skills are top notch. I mean you were the first of us to become a Jonin. I don't want you second guessing or hesitating because of us. We can all see it and I know you want it too. I'd never forgive myself for holding you back."

"Who says you'd be holding me back? If anything it would just make me work harder to come back from a mission; to come back to you." He paused for a moment

"I do want to get into the ANBU and when I got the letter I was happy but at the same time there was something that was sitting at the back of my mind. Even before the mission, before we decided that we needed to talk; I thought about what losing you meant if we didn't decide anything. And during this last mission I was scared as well. When we were fighting on the lake. I wasn't thinking about saving myself, I knew had to get you out of danger and my body just moved. It answered a question I'd been lingering on" he was looking straight in her eyes

"I'm just scared…I feel like I'm walking right into a trap. ANBU are top class but that just means there are people out for you. Do you know how valuable a captured ANBU is? That's why you're never allowed to be a prisoner so if you ever got captured you'd have to…"

Silence took over.

"Sounds like I'm being underestimated" he ran his hand through her hair with a cheeky smile

"It's not that believe me" she playfully rolled her eyes

"I'm just making sure we both know what this means for us not to mention we'd barely see each other"

"Better than not seeing each other at all and drifting apart"

She sighed.

"You're right" she looked up at him; he returned her gaze and the two of them kissed passionately

Xxx

It was late afternoon when Tenten stood atop the Hokage stone faces. A gentle breeze swept past her, sweeping her bangs across her face. Her usual twin bun hairstyle was instead a simple long braid down her back. She looked at the village and the how small all the villagers looked. A smile of familiarity graced her face when she looked down at the stone carving she was standing on.

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

"I didn't expect things to have changed this much"

"You're the one whose mission went through Naruto's entrance ceremony as Hokage. A lot's changed"

"But I'm glad somethings stayed the same" he held her tighter and kissed her neck

She looked down at his arm and saw a cut wrapped in a bandage. She rubbed her hand over it.

"It's noting really"

"Just more proof of things staying the same" she remained in his arms a little longer than walked to the edge of the stone faces

"But you never know when things will change" he said to himself with a smile and fiddled with the small black box in his pocket

He watched her retreating form; before she made her way down she turned back to look at him and that moment he'd always remember. It's as if time stopped for him. The way she looked at him with that genuine loving smile; her big brown eyes shone brilliantly and the breeze gently swept her hair.

The gleam of the setting sun behind her made her glow. He felt something in his chest tighten when he looked at her. He was just swept up in looking at her. He gripped the box tighter in his hand.

"Something wrong?" she asked

He gave her a small smile and took her hand in his.

"Nothing at all. I just know I'm making the right decision" he didn't answer when she gave him a questioning look. The two of them walked back to the village hand in hand; completely enjoying every moment of being together.


End file.
